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Opinion
Mary Anna Towler on November 18th, 2009
We've compromised way too much on health-care reform. It's time to get this thing done.
And here's a news flash: We're not going to get a perfect reform bill. Neither the House nor the Senate seems willing to clamp down hard on costs. The abortion restrictions in the House bill simply
Opinion
Mary Anna Towler on November 10th, 2009
Violence has struck again in Rochester. And again. And again.
This year's murder rate isn't as high as last year's, and violent crime is down. But the statistics seem meaningless when we hear reports of yet another shooting and read yet another account of a funeral for a black teenager who
Opinion
Mary Anna Towler on November 3rd, 2009
This year's election may have been quiet, but next year, when we elect state legislators and a governor, there should be some fireworks. Will it do any good for us to go to the polls?
Obviously, we need change. New York, as a recent New York Times editorial put it, "is
Opinion
Mary Anna Towler on October 27th, 2009
A hot little topic currently, among people who are fascinated by such things, is School Board member Cynthia Elliott's muttering "dumb motherfucker" at a recent board meeting, aiming it at Board member Van White.
Elliott is running for re-election, and the Democrat and Chronicle endorsed her before the September Democratic primary.
Opinion
Mary Anna Towler on October 20th, 2009
Many of us felt we had lost a close friend when WXXI radio's Richard Gladwell succumbed to cancer last week. Richard, who hosted "With Heart and Voice" on Sundays, was a bright star in an increasingly monochromatic radio landscape. He brought not only knowledge and creativity but personality to his
Opinion
Mary Anna Towler on October 13th, 2009
Last week, I was stewing in this column about Rochester not getting its act together. We've had some bright spots this fall, though, starting with the opening of the new Nazareth Arts Center - and the vision that it expresses. And last week, the University of Rochester opened
Opinion
Mary Anna Towler on October 6th, 2009
Where do young adults want to live?
The Wall Street Journal recently asked six "experts" what they think will be "the hottest, hippest destinations for highly mobile, educated workers in their 20's" when the economy picks up. The panel's top five choices: Washington, DC; Seattle; New York City; Portland,
Opinion
Mary Anna Towler on September 29th, 2009
Not long ago, President Obama called our involvement in Afghanistan "a war of necessity." Now he has stepped back from that precipice and is reconsidering, in part because of Afghanistan's election fraud.
But trust in the Karzai administration should be only one part of that consideration. There are way too many
Opinion
Mary Anna Towler on September 23rd, 2009
The dots couldn't have been connected more clearly:Headline on the front page of the Democratic and Chronicle's A section on Saturday: "Mourners gather to say goodbye to Camry."Headline on the front page of the B section: "Surround Care closes doors."In yet another of our long string of killings, 12-year-old Camry
Opinion
Mary Anna Towler on September 23rd, 2009
The dots couldn't have been connected more clearly:
Headline on the front page of the Democratic and Chronicle's A section on Saturday: "Mourners gather to say goodbye to Camry."
Headline on the front page of the B section: "Surround Care closes doors."
In yet another of our long string of killings, 12-year-old Camry
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Recent Blog Posts
News Blog
Mary Anna Towler on September 23rd, 2009
Words certainly aren't everything, but President Obama's speech to the United Nations this morning was an important one. It expressed a foreign policy that was both conciliatory and tough. And it reminded me of one of the reasons I hoped Obama would be elected president: he embraces the need for
News Blog
Mary Anna Towler on September 14th, 2009
Late last week, I noted that School Board member Cynthia Elliott was being attacked through anonymous campaign flyers sent to Democratic voters. The same is true of County Legislator Carrie Andrews.
Andrews is running for re-election, and registered Democrats in her 21st district have been receiving flyers with misleading information -
News Blog
Mary Anna Towler on September 10th, 2009
There are legitimate reasons to oppose School Board member Cynthia Elliott's bid for re-election. But there is no legitimate reason for the anonymous attack launched against her this week.
Among a flood of campaign mail that Rochester Democratic voters have been getting this week was one aimed at Elliott. Headlined "Anyone
News Blog
Mary Anna Towler on September 10th, 2009
Received in our newsroom this morning: A news release announcing that Mayor Bob Duffy will "publicly endorse" Democratic candidates for City Council and the Rochester School Board.
We're all agog here. The news release had the tone of excitement. And yet, we wonder: Our mailboxes have been flooded with campaign material
News Blog
Mary Anna Towler on September 9th, 2009
All of us will be assessing President Obama's speech on health care more extensively in the next few days, but here are my early thoughts.
In our house, as we waited for the president's speech, we asked each other what we hoped he would say. And we agreed: We hoped he would
News Blog
Mary Anna Towler on September 8th, 2009
Has the country gone berserk?
Are we really this nuts?
Just how many people bought into the craziness about President Obama's speech to school children?
And how much worse can this anti-Obama movement get?
The president of the United States wants to encourage the nation's students to work hard, stay in school,
News Blog
Mary Anna Towler on August 18th, 2009
As many activists have said in the past few days, the time has long passed for compromise on health-care reform. The country needs a single-payer system. It's the only system that makes sense. Single payer was off the table in Washington from the get-go, so we've already compromised.
Now members of
News Blog
Mary Anna Towler on August 13th, 2009
Definitely worth a read: "Cheney Unleashes His Frustration with Bush" in today's Washington Post. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is writing a memoir, and the Post article is based on interviews with people with whom Cheney has discussed the book. The article portrays Cheney as becoming disillusioned with George Bush
News Blog
Mary Anna Towler on August 6th, 2009
Well, well, well.
The most popular part of Ren Square was the new downtown home for Monroe Community College. And now we learn from the Democrat and Chronicle that MCC needed more space than it was going to get in Ren Square.
With Ren Square dead at last, MCC - whose downtown
News Blog
Mary Anna Towler on August 4th, 2009
Looks like everybody's mad at everybody, yes?
Ren Square died, at last, this morning, but not without a final, bizarre twist. County Exec Maggie Brooks, transit authority chief Mark Aesh, Mayor Bob Duffy, and City Council member Dana Miller got together one more time yesterday. And they seemed to have revived their patient
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